The Play

"Nandini di! Nandini di!" 

She turned around, attempting to find the source of this frantic call for help amidst the chaos. Hats were lying here and there, paper-made decorations were flying everywhere, volunteers were frantically zipping children into costumes and one little boy, with a crayon hat falling over his head, was running towards her with a look of stark terror on his face. 

The S.P.A.C.E. Academy, where she taught classical music, had organized a musical play involving children from the nearby orphanage. The beautiful song for the play was written by her best friend, Navya and was choreographed by her brother, Rishabh. It was about crayons in a box, all trying to fit in but miserably falling apart. The plot focused on teaching the importance of unity and strength, something she firmly believed in. 

"What's wrong, Tanmay?" she asked the little boy running towards her.

"Di, I... I forgot my lines!" Tanmay said breathlessly. Nandini frowned. 

Tanmay was one of the most needy students, he was left at the orphanage at the mere age of two when his mother passed away and the authorities couldn't trace his father. After meeting him twice, Nandini had figured that he was struggling more than others and had spent the past weeks trying her best to help him. 

Even after the play practices ended, she would sit with him for hours and help him with his second-grade math. Sometimes, she would read him stories and sometimes, sing for him. Needless to say, a strong bond had developed between them and Nandini was sad to know that it was the last time she would be seeing him.

She was getting promoted and despite the happiness of achieving her dreams, she was nervous about the increasing work load. It would mean that her time spent at the orphanage and with her boyfriend would significantly decrease.

Nandini brought herself back to the moment where the young boy was still looking at her pleadingly. 

"But Tanmay sweetie, you don't have any lines, remember?" The musical play barely had six lines that were to be recited separately from the song and they had picked two older kids to recite that. Nandini was sure that Tanmay was supposed to stay in the background and sing along with the others. 

"Yes I do, and I can't remember it...I'm going to ruin the whole play!" Tanmay whined, almost at the verge of tears. 

Nandini's best friend and colleague, Navya, passed by at that moment and Nandini quickly caught her arm. 

"Navya...Tanmay is very upset because he can't recall his lines but I don't think there were any for him. Has there been some sort of a mix up?" she asked. 

Navya's eyes flashed from the seven year old to her best friend, and a look of recognition dawned on her face. 

"Ahh...I know what he is talking about. Come Tanmay, I'll help you with that," she said with a comforting smile. "Nandini, the play is about to start. Why don't you go and take your seat among the audience?"

Although the news of Tanmay being given lines to recite was absurd to her, Nandini smiled and nodded before turning to leave. 

She made her way to the auditorium and towards her seat, occasionally smiling at some known face in the crowd. As she waved at her students who were all enjoying the time with their groups, she felt a slight twinge in her heart.  She hadn't met any of her college friends for almost three years. Some of them had gone abroad and others were just too busy to be able to meet for a catch up. Except Navya who was also her colleague and music teacher, no one had time to come for her events. 

Even her boyfriend, Manik, couldn't make it. Even though it has been five years since he graduated, he still had the same aura and charm that worked on almost everyone who walked the corridors of S.P.A.C.E. Academy.